The Market: Buyers vs Renters
I’m not sure about our readers but if feels as though when you hit your 20s you’re expected to have your entire life sorted out. That means marriage kids and to own your home. This unrealistic standard is constantly making me worry that I’m not doing as well as other people, and it stresses out so many other people. With the median age of home buyers being 36, it feels like we’re worrying for nothing, or that we’ll never get a house and be renters forever.
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In terms of the housing market there is a divide between buyers and renters, if a house is up for sale there’s a chance renters were displaced or that a possible investment property is going to become someone’s first house.
Home ownership data from the 2016 Census shows a home ownership rate of 67%, down slightly from 68% in 2011.
The home ownership rate of 30–34 year olds was 64% in 1971, to 50% in 2016, according to Census data. For Australians aged 25–29, the decrease was similar—50% in 1971, decreasing to 37% in 2016.
Some home owner ship and renter statistics from the 2016 census.
67% (5.4 million households) were homeowners:
32% (2.6 million households) without a mortgage
35% (2.9 million households) with a mortgage.
32% (2.6 million households) were renters; where landlord type was known:
26% (2.1 million households) were renting from private landlords
3.7% (300,000 households) from state or territory housing authorities
1.3% (105,500 households) from other landlords.
Jack Eastwood, 27 year old first home buyer who was over the moon to finally be able to find a place of his own. He was after a house in the Jervis Bay/Basin area as that's where he had lived his whole life he says “you just can't beat it, it's the perfect place to raise a family and spend your whole life here”.
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However, covid 19 struck and unfortunately hurt his chances at getting his own house, with prices going up daily he was worried.
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And then, once again jack struck unlucky with the house he brought being a landlord's nightmare, the place was left filthy from the last disgruntled renters who didn't want to move, the whole ordeal throwing jack off, he had already brought the house though.
Hayley Wills, 22 year old renter in the Bay and Basin area who also struck unlucky due to covid19. Not to mention living in the shoalhaven LGA means higher rental prices and lack of properties to rent, causing a rather big rental and homelessness crisis.
Hayley was given four weeks to pack up and get out of the house that she was renting for nearly 3 years. Once she had moved out the property manger accused her of leaving rubbish behind, rubbish which was in fact the previous owners that had been there since she first started renting.
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These constant push backs have made her angry at the housing market and she wishes “there were a million houses for a million people!”
With hayley showing us how bad the housing market is for renters, we can understand why jack was left smacked with a big cleaning job from disgruntled renters that were made to find somewhere new to stay.
Its easy to see here that it really can be renters vs buyers, constantly competing for somewhere to live. Speaking with people from both sides, realising that its not easy for anyone young to live independently it makes me curious about whether or not government funding is really working for all people.